Electric musical recorder



Aug. 2, 1927.

2 Sheets-Sheet l,

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A BARBIERI ELECTRIC MUSICAL RECORDER Filed June 26 Aug. 2, 19 27.

f 62 I21 verba A BARBIER] ELECTRIC MUSICAL RECORDER Filed June 26, 1923llllL lrllu IIIIIL Patented Aug. 2, 1927.

UNITED "STATES 1,637,674 PATENT OFFICE.

ANGELO BARBIERI, 0F MILAN, ITALY.

ELECTRIC MUSICAL RECORDER.

Applicationfiled June 26, 1923, Serial No. 647,950, and in Italy June28, 1922.

The present, invention has for its subject matter an electric musicalrecorder consisting in a complex of electric contrivances adapted toautomatically write down on paper the music that is being played onkeyboard instruments of any type or form.

The apparatus comprises a complex of electric cont-acts similar to thosewell known for the transmission of the keyboard movement from onemusical instrument to another or to several others, the said complexbeing here completed by mechanical and electric arrangements adapted forrecording on paper the notes as well as the measures.

The annexed drawing represents by way of example one execution form ofthe invention.

Fig. 1. is a vertical section diagrammatically showing theelectric'arrangement for automatically writing on paper the music playedon a keyboard instrument.

Fig. 2 is a further vertical section, but on a plan different from theprevious one, showing diagrammatically the arrangement for reproducingon the paper the measure of the music that is being written, this beingaccomplished by striking a suitable blow on a special disc.

Figures 3 and 4 are front sections and show two details in Fig. 2, viz,the detail of the closure of the circuit of the solenoid by which asmall hammer recording the measure is operated and a further detailrelating to the measure recording mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the paper on which the music is beingwritten and shows the paper drums as well as the drive of the measurerecording mechanism, the latter being connected to the paper drivingdrum.

Like figures'indicate like parts in the different drawings. i

1 and 1n Fig. 1 are two keys for instance a white and a black one in thekeyboard. By depressing one of said keys,

for instance the key 2, a corresponding plunger ,3 is lowered so as topermit the contact. lever 4' to touch the fixed contact 5 andtherewithclose the electriccircuit formed by: electric source 6,conductor wire terminal 8-, spring 4, contact 5, terminal 9, conductorwire 10-, solenoid 11 and conductor wire 12-. The solenoid 11, beingthus excited, lifts its own core 13 and therewith actuates the lever 14fulcrumed the band 19,; it unwinds itself from the drum 25 passes underdrum 26 and then over drum 27- by which it is entrained at a constantuniform-speed. The drum '27- may be driven, for instance, by an electricmotor 62-- through the gear 61- (Fig; 5) and the necessary adherencebetween the paper --*2 l and the drum -2'7- may be obtained by means ofa roller 28- pressed down on the paper by a lever 29-. After leaving thedrum 27 the paper passes on the table -30- and thence further on to theplace where it is received and made up in rolls or otherwise. Owing tothe described arrangement and to the travelling motions of the inkband19 and paper 24, any time that the roller -l8 is pressed against theunderside of the band it will strike a dash on the music line of thepaper, at the point corresponding to the key that has been depressed,the length of the dash being smaller or longer according to the lengthof the note.

It will be readily understood that for each key of the keyboard therewill have to be a set comprising a plunger 3--, lever -4-, fixed contact-5, solenoid -11',' lever -14- and lever 16 with roller In order tofacilitate reading it may be arranged for instance that all White keysin thekeyboard shall mark a straight line and allblack keys a sinusoidalline, whereas the line intended for the additional syncopes and for thecentral'note on the paper may be coloured or traced in any other desiredmanner. I

As far as regards recording the time measures, on an extension of theshaft of the drum 27- a disc 31, is keyed, the disc revolving with thesame speed as drum 27 and entraining in its revolution the frictionwheel -32--. The latter can be shifted radially with respect to 31- bythe operator depressing the foot lever 33, the friction wheel 32 beingthen slid along its spindle 44 by the foot lever 33 across: link -34,bell-crank lever -35-, link 36, lever -37 pivoted at -38-, toothedsegment --39 reciprocating rack -40, catcher 41 fixed on 40, slide 42--mounted on guide rod -43 and whose bottom end is engaged with by thecatcher -41 while its top end engages a sliding collar to which thefriction wheel 32 is secured. The shaft 44 on which the friction wheel-32 is slidable revolves along with the latter, the two being connectedby the shaft feather. To the lower end of vthe lever -.37-- a ribbon--45 is attached, the ribbon being arranged beneath the inkband -19.-and parallel thereto and bearing the numbers of the Maelzel metronome;the ribtherefore receives a movement any time the foot lever 33- isoperated. When the friction wheel 32 is slid on'its shaft .44 from thecentre towards the periphery of the disc 31- or reversely, therevolvingspeed imparted by --31- to -32 and therewith to the shaft 44-and to the roller -45 keyed on 44'- will be varied. The roller -45- ismade of insulating material and has a metal plate 45"- axiallyembodied-in its ,periphery. On-this metal plate -45" lie, during therevolution of the shaft 44--,- the metal brushes -464t7 to which areconnected up the conductors -4849 leading from the solenoid -50- andforming, in conjunction with the plate -45" and brushes 4647, a circuitfed from the electric source -6-. During the travel of the paper 24+entrained by the drum 27- the said circuit will obviously be closed withgreater frequency or with smaller frequency according, as by the actionof the foot lever 33'- the friction wheel -32-has been shifted towardsthe periphcry or towards the center of the friction disc 31. When thesaid circuit is closed, the current energizes the .coil ,-..50- and thelatters core -51 is lifted. The core I -51- inits turn will raise thelever 52 fulcrumed'at 53; the lever -53 will swing thev lever 54fulcrumed at 55 to which it is connected, and the hammer --56-- at theouter end of the lever --54- will strike the band 45- and press itagainst the inkband '-19. The result will be that the inkband will bepressed against the paper -24- and imprint the underlying metronomenumber thereon; the imprinted number will correspond to the movementimparted to the metronome according to the speed variation imparted tothe friction wheel -32-. The recorded measure will be signalled to theplayer, in order that he may conform to it, by the single-toothed cam--57 keyed on the shaft 44--; at each revolution of the shaft -44-- thecam 57 will release the spring -58-- working on the disc 59-.

Meanwhile the player will be able to adjust at will, by means of thefoot lever 33, the measure of the quarter which is signalled to his earsand to his eyes by the spring 58 and which is simultaneously marked onthe paper by the hammer 56 in the position where the signalling'of thequarter begins and with the number corresponding to the movement of themetronome.

As the apparatus makes no records except during the time the key isdepressed, the regular and constant travelling motion of the paper willhave it as a consequence that the amount of the motion of the wheels isgiven by the intervals crossed by the dash traced by the key, and theamount of the pauses is given by the blank spaces left between theconsecutive notes.

Having now particularly described and illustrated in what manner myinvention is to be performed what I claim is:

1. In an electric musical recorder, a lurality of rollers for supportingand gui ing a record sheet, one of said rollers consisting of a drivefor a record sheet and another of said rollers constituting a platen, anink band movable coincidently with the drive roller, a pair of leverspivotally connected at their adjacent ends, note recording rollersrotatably mounted in the other end of one of the levers, electromagneticmeans associated with the other end of the other lever for actuating thelatter, an electric circuit including the electromagnetic means and acircuit closure interposed in said circuit and operable by the key of amusical instrument.

2. Arecorder as claimed in claim 1 characterized by the provision of asecond magnetic electric device interposed in said circuit, meansoperable by the second mentioned electromagnetic means for marking timesigns on the record sheet, a rotatablecircuit closure controlling thesecond mentioned electromagnetic means, and means for transmittingtherotary movement of the drive roller to the rotary circuit closure.

3. A recorder as claimed in claim 1 characterized by the provision of asecond magnetic electric device interposed in said circuit, meansoperable by the second mentioned electromagnetic means for .marking timesigns on the record sheet, a rotatable circuit closure controlling thesecond mentioned electromagnetic means, and means for transmitting therotary movement of the drive roller to the rotary circuit closure, andpedal controlling means for varying the speed of the rotary circuitclosure with relation to the speed of the drive roller for the recordsheet.

4. A recorder as claimed in claim 1 characterized by the provision of asecond magnetic electric device interposed in said circuit, meansoperable by the second mentioned electromagnetic means for making timesigns on the record sheet, a rotatable circuit closure controlling thesecond mentioned electromagnetic means, and means for transmitting therotary movement of the drive roller to the rotary circuit closure andvariable and audible time indicating means operated by the rotarycircuit closure.

5. A recorder as claimed in claim 1 characterized by the provision of asecond magnetic electric device interposed in said circuit, meansoperable by the second mentioned electromagnetic means for marking timesigns on the record sheet, a rotatable circuit closure controlling thesecond mentioned electromagnetic means, and means for transmitting therotary movement of the drive roller to the rotary circuit closure,manually operable means for varying the speed of the rotary circuitclosure With respect to the drive roller, and audible and variable timeindicating means operably connected with the rotary circuit closure.

Signed at Milan, Italy, this 9th day of June, A. D. 1923.

ANGELO BARBIERI.

